Configuration Searches

Use configuration search to search configuration data across the enterprise. Cloud Control ships with a set of configuration searches provided by Oracle, which you can use as a starting point to explore the volume of configuration data collected. As you work with a provided search, you can tailor the search criteria to refine or broaden the results, and save the altered search under a new name.

Perform powerful searches across the enterprise using sophisticated combinations of search filters, options, and relationships.

Enhance the search filtering criteria by adding your own SQL query statements. Save interesting search results by printing a report or exporting to a file.

To access the search capability, from the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Search. The Configuration Search library page enables you to perform the following tasks:

• Managing Configuration Searches

• Creating a Configuration Search

Managing Configuration Searches

To manage configuration searches, access the Configuration Search Library from the Enterprise menu. Select Configuration, and then select Search.

On the Configuration Search Library page, you can perform the following tasks for existing configuration searches:

• Searching for a Configuration Search

• Running a Configuration Search

• Editing a Configuration Search

• Deleting a Configuration Search

• Importing or Exporting a Configuration Search

Searching for a Configuration Search

The Configuration Search Library page displays a table containing saved configuration searches.

To search for an existing configuration search, scroll down the table or use the Search option by doing the following:

1. Expand Search.

2. Specify the name of the configuration search.

3. Specify the owner of the configuration search.

   Note:

   The search name and owner fields recognize containment, so you can specify a text string as a partial name to find all searches where the name or owner contains the string.

4. Select the target type.

5. Select Latest or History search type.

6. Select the mode that was used to create the search, such as All, Modeler, or SQL.

7. Specify if the configuration search is system defined or not.

8. Click Go. The search results are displayed in the table.

   The View menu enables you to change how the content gets displayed in the table. You can select the columns that you want to view, sort the table content in ascending or descending order, and reorder the columns.

Running a Configuration Search

To run a configuration search, do the following:

1. On the Configuration Search library page, select a configuration search from the table, and then click Run to execute the search.

2. The Edit/Run Search page displays the search parameters applied in the search execution, the number of selected configuration items, and the search results.

3. You can edit the configuration items by clicking on the edit icon or the link next to it. The Apply Configuration Items dialog box appears. You can search for configuration items in the left panel, and then refine the configuration items using the right panel. Once you have selected the configuration items that you want to apply to the configuration search, click Apply. Else, click Reset to obtain the previous configuration items, or Cancel.

4. You can also export, print, and detach the configuration search page.

Editing a Configuration Search

You can only edit configuration searches that have an opened lock icon displayed next to the search name. Oracle saved configuration searches are usually locked searches which you cannot edit.

To edit an existing configuration search, do the following:

1. On the Configuration Search Library page, select a configuration search in the table and click Edit.

2. The Run/Edit Search page displays the search parameters and the results of the search.

3. Change the search criteria to achieve the desired results.

4. You can edit the configuration items by clicking on the edit icon or the link next to it. The Apply Configuration Items dialog box appears. You can search for configuration items in the left panel, and then refine the configuration items using the right panel. Once you have selected the configuration items that you want to apply to the configuration search, click Apply. Else, click Reset to obtain the previous configuration items, or Cancel.

5. Click Save to overwrite the existing search. Click Save As to save the edited search under a new name. If you are working with an Oracle-provided search, use Save As.

6. You can also export, print, or detach the configuration search.

Deleting a Configuration Search

To delete an existing search, on the Configuration Search Library page, select the configuration search from the table, and click Delete.

In the dialog that opens, confirm the operation. You must be either the owner or the administrator of the configuration search in order to delete a search. A search in use cannot be deleted. Oracle recommends that you not delete a configuration search provided by Oracle.

Importing or Exporting a Configuration Search

Search for and import or export existing configuration searches using the: Configuration Search Library, Comparison Templates, Metric Extensions, Compliance Library pages.

To import a configuration search, click Actions, and then select Import. In the Import box that appears, browse for the configuration search file that you want to import, and click OK.

To export a configuration search, select a configuration search from the table, click Actions, and then select Export. A dialog box appears with the options to Open or Save the configuration search as an XML file.

Creating a Configuration Search

The Configuration Search Library page enables you to create a configuration search using any of the three usecases:

• Creating a New Configuration Search

• Creating a Configuration Search from an Existing Configuration Search

• Creating a Configuration Search Using SQL

Creating a New Configuration Search

To create a new configuration search, do the following:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, and then select Search.

2. On the Configuration Search Library page, select Create..., and then select Configuration Search.

3. On the Configuration Search page, in the New Search section, select the target type of the configuration search. The table containing the targets gets refreshed to display the target type that you have selected.

4. To apply configuration items to the configuration search, do the following:

   1. Click the Configuration Items Add link.

   2. In the Apply Configuration Items dialog box, in the left panel, in the search field, specify the name of the configuration item. You can view a list of the configuration items in this panel in a flat or hierarchical view.

   3. Select a configuration item from the left panel. You can refine the selected configuration item using the search criteria options in the right panel. Ensure that you deselect the configuration items in the right panel that you do not want to see in the search results.

   4. Click Advanced Search Options if you want to further refine your search. This search method enables you to view the configuration items in groups, and add configuration items to each group. This search also provides OR and AND operators, unlike the Simple search which just gives you the option of OR operator.

      You can further refine each group, by clicking the refine icon next to the group name. This enables you to select any of the following conditions:

      None - Displays results based on specified property values.

      Exists - Displays targets that contain the configuration item identified by the specified property values. For example, display database instances that contain patch 13343438.

      Does not exist - Display targets that do not contain the configuration item identified by the specified property values. For example, display database instances that do not contain patch 13343438.

      The first selection option returns not only matching entities but also actual property values. The rest return only the matching entities.

   5. Click on Related Target Types link to associate the target type with other targets. For example, you may want to know the Management Agent that is monitoring a host you have selected.

   6. Click Apply to add the configuration items to the configuration search. Click Reset if you want to revert to the previously saved configuration items.

      The number of configuration items selected will now be displayed next to Configuration Items. The configuration items get added to New Search section and are displayed in the table against the targets.

5. As you add criteria, click Search to see the results. Continue to revise the search by adding and removing filters until the results are satisfactory.

   Notice in the search results table that the column names are a concatenation of the filters you specify and elect to display. So, for example, If you filter on hardware vendor name for target type host, the column name in the search results table reads Host Hardware Vendor Name.

6. Click Advanced if you want to specify more specific search criteria such as target name, member of, and the host that the target is on. You can also choose to Reset all the changes that you have made.

7. Click Save As. In the Create Configuration Search dialog box, specify a name for the configuration search, and click OK.

Creating a Configuration Search from an Existing Configuration Search

To create a configuration search from an existing configuration search, do the following:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, and then select Search.

2. On the Configuration Search Library page, search for and select the configuration search that you want to copy from the table.

3. Click Create Like...

4. In the Copy Configuration Search dialog box, specify a name for the new configuration search that you are creating.

5. Click OK.

6. Select the new row in the table and click Edit. Make the desired changes to the search parameters and then, save the configuration search.

Creating a Configuration Search Using SQL

Sometimes, despite all the filtering criteria, search results still fall short. To refine the search even further, you can create a configuration search using SQL by following these steps:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, and then select Search.

2. On the Configuration Search Library page, click Create and then select Search Using SQL.

3. On the Search Using SQL page, you can create a SQL Query statement and then click Search to run the search. You can also edit the SQL Query statements for an existing configuration search by selecting the search from the table on the Configuration Search Library page and then clicking Search Using SQL.

   Note:

   You use views in this case. You cannot access the underlying tables. Your SQL edits apply only to the current search execution. If you want to preserve the edited statement, you can choose to Export as an XML file or Print the SQL statement.

4. Click Save As. In the Create Configuration Search dialog box, specify a name for the configuration search, and click OK.